


My Flu Heaven

by nowhiteflaguponmydoor



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, OT3, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 08:38:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17846084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowhiteflaguponmydoor/pseuds/nowhiteflaguponmydoor
Summary: Hawkeye gets sick. BJ, Peg, and Erin take care of him.





	My Flu Heaven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daylight_angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daylight_angel/gifts).



> For Day, it’s a little late, but I hope you enjoy some fluffy sickfic.  
> Thanks to the lovely pr0serpina for the beta and encouragement for the punny title.  
> And also thanks to my Swamp Rats for their collective encouragement: y’all rock <3  
> Title is a pun. “My Blue Heaven” is a song featured in M*A*S*H. I recommend the Smashing Pumpkins cover because it’s so chill.

Peg isn’t sure what wakes her up, but she immediately realizes something isn’t right. She reaches over to find BJ still curled up behind her, and then reaches to her other side and realizes that Hawkeye isn’t in the bed. 

The light in their bathroom isn’t on, so she disengages from BJ who gives a loud snore and gets up to grab her robe. She notices that Hawkeye’s robe is gone from its hook on the back of the door. She opens the door and creeps down the hall. She peeks in on Erin, who is sound asleep, thankfully. The poor child had had a rough few days with the flu that had been going around school. She’d fallen ill a few days ago and then it seemed to have spread to Peg and BJ. Hawkeye had been a godsend, taking care of all three of them, monitoring fevers and applying Vicks Vapor Rub as necessary and encouraging them all to stay hydrated and take their medicine. Luckily, with Hawk taking care of things, Peg and BJ had been able to mostly rest and let the bug run its course. Erin still had a spot of the cough, but was doing much better, as were Peg and BJ.

Peg continues down the hall. She’s about to trudge downstairs when she notices that the door to the guest room isn’t closed all the way. She walks in and there, curled up in the bed, looking miserable even in sleep, is Hawkeye. Peggy frowns. She closes the bedroom door so that it’s open just a crack, and turns the hall light on so she can see better. He’s in his bathrobe and one of BJ’s sweatshirts, and the quilt is pulled up around him. She can tell that his nose is stopped up by the way he’s snoring with his mouth wide open. 

Peg walks over to the bed and carefully perches next to where Hawkeye is curled up. She lays a hand on his forehead, and sure enough, she finds that the skin there is overly warm. Peggy sighs and smooths Hawk’s hair back. He grumbles in his sleep but doesn’t wake up. 

Peg wonders why in the hell he’s in the guest room. It’s not like he should be worried about getting her and BJ sick; it’s probably the same flu, for crying out loud. Unfortunately, she thinks she knows the answer to her question. Hawkeye never wants to be a bother to anyone, and probably worried about waking her and BJ with coughing or snoring, despite putting up with it from Peg and BJ this past week. Hawk’s come a long way in the three years since he’d moved to San Francisco, but she knows he still worries about being good enough for her, BJ, and Erin. 

Hawkeye shivers in his sleep, and Peggy feels her heart constrict. He looks so much younger asleep, but also he has a vulnerability that makes her want to guard him from the world. She reaches down to his shoulder and gently shakes him. “Hawkeye, Hawkeye, wake up.” 

Hawkeye grumbles and blearily sits up. “Peg? What’s wrong?” 

Peggy shakes her head. “You tell me.”

Hawkeye blinks a couple of times. She can just make him out in the crack of the hall light. “Huh?”

“I said, you tell me. I woke up and you were gone, and you’re here in the guest room looking miserable.” 

Hawk sighs and puts his head in his hands. “”M sick,” he grouses quietly. 

Peg runs her fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I figured that out when I felt your forehead. But why are you in here?” 

“I heard the guest room is lovely this time of year?” 

Peggy rolls her eyes and resists the urge to tug on his hair. He’s probably got a massive headache, if experience is anything to go by. She waits him out instead and he rewards her. 

“I didn’t want to wake you or Beej. I woke up to go to the bathroom and damn near coughed up a lung.” 

“I see,” Peggy says, still petting him gently. He leans into her hand like an overgrown cat. “Did you take any medicine?” 

“Mmm.”

“Once more, with feeling.”

“No.”

“Ben Franklin. You’re a doctor.”

Hawkeye coughs and Peg reaches to rub his back. “‘S gross.”

“Has taking care of Erin this week rubbed off on you? I know it’s gross, but it’ll help you feel better. And besides, if you can tolerate those awful martinis, you can swig some cough medicine.” She’s a little concerned that his fever may have contributed to the lack of medicine. She sure did feel loopy when her temperature was up.

“Peg?”

“Yes?”

“I hate when you’re right.”

Peg laughs and Hawkeye leans into her. “I’m always right, darling. Come on, go back to bed, and I’ll bring you your medicine.”

Hawk huffs and it causes another cough. He shivers and pulls his robe tighter around him as he gets up and obediently goes back to the master bedroom. He’s just crawling into bed when Peggy returns with a spoon, the cough medicine, the vapor rub, and a glass of water. She coaxes Hawkeye into sitting up and he takes the medicine, shuddering violently as it goes down. She hands him the water and he whispers “thanks, Peg” before chasing the nasty tasting cough syrup while she coats his chest with the Vicks.

Peggy goes to wash her hands and then retrieves another blanket and bundles him up before guiding him to lie back down in the middle of the bed. Hawkeye hesitates, but Peggy whispers “lie down, Benjamin” in the voice she uses when Erin is in trouble so Hawkeye obeys. This way, if he needs to get up again, he’ll have to get out from between them.

BJ has slept through the commotion, but when Hawkeye settles back down next to him, he cuddles up to him and wraps his arms around him. Peggy shuts off the hall light, closes the door and gets back under the covers. She snuggles up to Hawkeye and puts her hand up against his chest, rubbing gently through the layers. “Get some sleep, darling,” she whispers. “We’ll be right here.”

When Peg wakes up again, it’s morning, the sunlight streaming through the curtains. She gets up and goes about her morning routine. She’s just finished brushing her teeth when BJ appears in the bathroom, sleepily dropping a kiss to her neck resting his chin on top of her head. She leans into him before turning around and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “Morning, darling,” she says. BJ just groans in response—he’s never been a morning person. Peg backs away so she can see his face better. “It looks like Hawkeye has what we had.” 

That makes BJ more alert. “What?! He’s sick? He didn’t say anything about feeling bad…”

Peg has to stop herself from giggling at her husband. He’s such a mother hen. “He woke up in the middle of the night and took himself to the guest room so as not to bother us. I woke up, went looking for him, and brought him back to bed.”

BJ frowns. “He needs medicine, and…”

Peg cuts him off. “He already had some when I put him back to bed.” 

BJ nods to himself. “Good. Did he have a fever?” 

“Yes, he was definitely warm and feverish. Not really with it, that sort of thing.”

Peg reaches for the door. “I’ll go check on Erin and see about breakfast.”

Peggy heads down the hall and opens Erin’s door. She’s awake, and playing with some of her stuffed animals. Good, that means she’s feeling better. “Good morning, baby. How do you feel?” 

Erin beams up at her. “Better, Mommy!” 

Peg chuckles. “I’m so glad, sweetheart. Would you like to come help Mommy with breakfast?” 

Erin nods enthusiastically and scrambles up to head downstairs with Peg. They’re getting ready to make scrambled eggs and bacon when BJ appears. He kisses Peg and then Erin, who is delighted to see him also feeling better, as she knows it means they can play. “Daddy, I’m helping Mommy make breakfast!” 

“I see, peanut. I’m sure you’ll do a wonderful job.” 

Erin grins. “Mommy is gonna let me crack the eggs!” Peg and BJ glance at each other and Peg mouths “help crack” while BJ tried to bite back a smirk. He gets some coffee and goes to sit at the table while Peg and Erin crack the eggs.

As soon as the eggs are cracked and Peggy is scrambling them, Erin looks over to BJ and frowns. “Daddy, where is Unca Hawk?” 

BJ leans down to pull Erin up into his lap. “Uncle Hawk isn’t feeling very well right now, so we’re letting him sleep in.” 

Erin considers this for a moment. “Is it a bad day?” The seriousness in her voice is uncharacteristic. ‘Bad days’ rarely happen anymore, luckily, but Erin still seems to remember when Hawkeye first came to San Francisco and was still struggling. Peggy thanks her lucky stars that Hawk has come such a long way, and that they’ve been able to sort things out. 

BJ hugs her close. “No, baby. Uncle Hawkeye is sick, just like we were. So since he took such good care of us, we’re going to do the same for him, right?” 

Erin grins. “Right!” She hops down from his lap and runs into the living room, bringing back her crayons and scrap paper from the little kids table they have set up for her. “I’m gonna draw him a card,” she says triumphantly, climbing into one of the kitchen chairs. 

BJ smiles. “That’s a great idea, Peanut. Uncle Hawk will love that.” 

They eat breakfast and Erin works on her card for Hawkeye. BJ and Peg clear the plates when they’re finished eating, and Erin says “can I take my card to Unca Hawk now?” 

“Yeah, baby, we should go check on him. But let’s be quiet and gentle, alright?” Erin nods at Peggy and takes her hand. 

“I’ll get some orange juice for him and be right up,” says BJ. 

Peggy and Erin head upstairs and into the master bedroom. When Erin sees Hawkeye curled up in bed and coughing, she lets go of Peggy’s hand and runs out. Peggy turns in confusion before looking back to Hawkeye, who is apparently alert and trying to sit up. 

“I didn’t mean to scare her,” Hawkeye says hoarsely. He sounds awful. 

Peg moves toward him and sits down on the edge of the bed. She’s about to tell him not to worry when Erin comes flying back into the room, this time holding her favorite teddy bear. It’s a plain teddy bear, but it wears a red knitted sweater. Both the bear and its sweater were gifts from Hawkeye when he first came to San Francisco. Erin climbs up into the bed and goes to press against Hawkeye’s side. 

“Unca Hawk, I made you a card.” She hands him the handmade card, which has hearts on the front of it. He opens it, and Peggy can see his eyes grow wide and tears come dangerously close to falling. “That’s you taking care of me, when I was sick. And then that’s me, taking care of you.” 

Hawkeye is speechless for a moment. “Thank you, Erin,” he says finally, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “This is the prettiest card I’ve ever seen.” 

Erin beams up at him. “And I brought you Teddy. He’ll help you feel better.” She offers her bear to him, which he takes like it’s a priceless treasure.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He coughs again, harder this time, and Erin reaches over to pat his back—just like he did for her a few days ago. 

Hawkeye’s coughing subsides, and he groans a little, leaning his head back against the headboard. BJ enters the room, with a tray holding orange juice, the thermometer, and what appears to be aspirin. He comes around to the other side of the bed and sets the tray in front of Hawk. “I figured you weren’t hungry, but try to drink some of this juice with the aspirin. First I wanna know your temp, though.” He picks up the thermometer and holds it in front of Hawkeye’s mouth. 

“Open wide, Unca Hawk!” 

Hawkeye laughs despite himself and this triggers another coughing fit. This time Erin and BJ are both rubbing his back. Peggy watches the scene in front of her and can’t help the big smile on her face. Hawkeye finally stops coughing, and lets BJ take his temperature. 

“101. Take this aspirin for me, Hawk. And don’t try and slip it to the bear instead.” 

Hawkeye sighs and does what he’s told, glancing down at the bear he’s still got under one arm. Peggy hates how quiet he’s being, but she knows it’s just proof of how poorly he feels. Hawkeye takes the medicine and drinks the orange juice before finally saying “what now, Doc?” It’s sarcastic, but not mean. 

Before BJ can reply, Peggy does instead. “Now us nurses are going to let you get some rest. We’ll leave you in the capable hands of Dr. Hunnicutt, and we’ll be back to check on you later. C’mon baby, Uncle Hawk needs some sleep.”

Erin pouts but climbs up so she can kiss the side of Hawkeye’s head. “Teddy will keep you company,” she says as she jumps down from the bed. Peg leans over and brushes Hawkeye’s hair from his forehead and then kisses him there. 

“Let me know if you boys need anything,” she says, before following Erin out of the room, shutting the door softly.

Peg plays baby dolls with Erin for a while, but when Erin starts rubbing her eyes, she coaxes her into taking a nap. She figures Erin can use the rest, as she’s still recovering from the bug that’s made the rounds. Once Erin has dropped off, Peg goes to check on Hawkeye.

The curtains are drawn shut in the bedroom, and there are two lumps in the middle of the bed. BJ is talking very softly to Hawkeye, so softly that Peg can’t quite make out what he’s saying. BJ raises up on one elbow, keeping his other arm around Hawkeye, petting him over his bathrobe. It looks like he’s shed a layer of blanket, so that’s promising. 

“How’s our patient?” Peggy asks quietly. 

BJ smiles at her. “Restless, he’s been coughing through some fever dreams, but I think his temp is trying to come down.” 

“Peg?” Her poor Hawkeye, he still sounds terrible. 

“Yes, darling, I’m here. Do you need something?”

“Mm-hmm. C’mere.” 

Peg and BJ smile at each other knowingly and Peggy slips into the bed on Hawkeye’s other side. He turns to face her and she pulls him toward her, so his forehead rests against her chest. He curls up against her and she starts playing with his hair. Hawkeye gives a appreciative sound, but otherwise doesn’t move or say anything else. BJ has curled up behind him, rubbing his back gently. “It’s all right, Hawk,” he says. “We’ve got you.” He kisses the back of Hawkeye’s neck. “Go back to sleep, alright?” 

Hawk grumbles, and then is quiet again for a while. Peggy thinks he’s dropped off to sleep, when he says “Beej? Peg?” It’s muffled from where he’s still curled up against Peg.

“Yes darling?” She asks. BJ leans over Hawk. 

“What is it, Hawk?” 

Hawkeye sighs. “Love you. Thank you.”

Peg and BJ grin at each other again. Peggy kisses the top of his head. “You’re very welcome, darling. I love you too.” 

BJ moves even closer to Hawk, and kisses the nape of his neck again. “Love you, Hawk.”

Hawkeye sighs, and sleeps.


End file.
